eBay

saamd4 · ‎18-01-2025

Hello.

I was wondering if anyone could help me on here. Unfortunately eBay have refused to remove negative feedback where a buyer refers to an item being lost in transit. The item was indeed lost in transit as Royal Mail accidentally sent it to the wrong country and I am currently in the process of claiming for compensation.

The buyer left feedback that says 'The worst experience buying this item, it was sent to France even thought I specifically told that it was for Colombia . I never received the item and it was for a present.'

The buyer is correct here however the fault is completely out of my control. Royal Mail admitted the error to me and I uploaded this evidence via a link I received on live chat with eBay. For the avoidance of doubt, I have proof the my item label purchased with Royal Mail was for Colombia (the correct destination). Still though the feedback remains. I don't understand how this does not fall under the 'Seller Protections' in which sellers are insulated from negative feedback where an issue arises not in their control.

Somebody please help, thanks!

johnwash1 · ‎18-01-2025

Looking at the neg you left for a seller in the past, perhaps this is karma returning! 🙂

But maybe that's unfair of me, I don't know the full facts. Here's what I reckon about your present situation though, and others may correct me if I'm wrong.

1) You could do as that seller way back did with your own neg, i.e. take the opportunity to make public a reply to the neg, setting out more of the facts, in a calm and dispassionate manner. If on that seller's feedback I saw your neg and his reply, I'd be inclined to completely discount the criticism and go ahead and buy from the seller anyhow.

2) I'm under the impression that when ebay 'remove' a neg, all they do is remove the comment, but leave the neg. Some of the time? Or every time? I don't know which. I wouldn't want to take that chance, I'd much rather be able to post a reply, setting out more background. Sellers with 100% feedback, all well and good, but what's especially interesting is how a seller handles a situation when things go bad. The negs and neutrals help to show this.

If you really want to get the neg removed though, it might be best to contact CS first thing in the morning when Ireland are on the line.

saamd4 · ‎18-01-2025

Thanks John.

I have to say I am a bit perplexed that you think me leaving feedback for a seller where they took my money, ghosted my messages and then cancelled an order after two weeks is 'karma returning'. Could you maybe shed some more light on why you think this bears equivalence to my predicament?

As for the Ireland comment, is this on live chat or just over the phone? Are the Ireland CS representatives known to be better? Thanks!

johnwash1 · ‎18-01-2025

@saamd4 wrote:
Thanks John.

I have to say I am a bit perplexed that you think me leaving feedback for a seller where they took my money, ghosted my messages and then cancelled an order after two weeks is 'karma returning'. Could you maybe shed some more light on why you think this bears equivalence to my predicament?

As for the Ireland comment, is this on live chat or just over the phone? Are the Ireland CS representatives known to be better? Thanks!

All I have to go on is:

You: Cancelled order after waiting 2 weeks, zero communication. Poor service.

Seller: ordered 26.10, message received from buyer 1.11 asking to cancel. cancellation processed 2.11 so 1 week after order placed. if a buyer requests a cancellation we will process it without communicating further. buyer reported.

So it would seem you didn't check to see if your cancellation had been acted on until a week after your request. But, not my circus. I would agree with you if you feel that a better seller would also have sent you a message confirming cancellation. Though since I've no experience of asking for a cancellation I've no idea whether ebay auto-generate a message to you confirming cancellation... I would hope they would. I guess the seller was p'd off with a buyer who changes their mind after a week and decided communication would be a waste of their time.

I only flagged it up as an example of how you could handle your recent neg yourself, if you so choose.

I've never had direct experience of the Dublin call centre. Others here would be better qualified to comment.

saamd4 · ‎18-01-2025

Hi John.

Thanks for your insight. In the transaction you refer to, I in fact did not request to cancel the order. The seller simply said this to cover their tracks of not communicating with me for two weeks, please see the rest of their feedback in which they employ this tactic numerous times.

I have to ask what bringing this up achieves in helping me resolve my problem? It seems you only have interest in deploying the straw man fallacy.

Thanks again!

johnwash1 · ‎18-01-2025

@saamd4 wrote:
Hi John.

Thanks for your insight. In the transaction you refer to, I in fact did not request to cancel the order. The seller simply said this to cover their tracks of not communicating with me for two weeks, please see the rest of their feedback in which they employ this tactic numerous times.

I have to ask what bringing this up achieves in helping me resolve my problem? It seems you only have interest in deploying the straw man fallacy.

Thanks again!

I've now had a look as you suggest. Wow. 😞 Not good.

The only reason I brought it up was to try to help give you some insight into how replying to a neg can help a lot to defuse it. Naturally, since I'm not looking to buy anything, I wasn't going to go further into looking at that seller's feedback, as I otherwise would.

Resolving your problem, I tried to treat it as kind of a mini-chess problem, looking ahead to see what options you have and whether there could be downsides to any of them. Sorry if you didn't see my input in the spirit in which it was offered. I do think you need advice from others as well who may shed more light on this. Good luck.

lucy_farmer · ‎18-01-2025

'As for the Ireland comment, is this on live chat or just over the phone? Are the Ireland CS representatives known to be better? Thanks!'

Yes 😁 they also speak English....... properly.

The ebay call centre in the Philipinnes has a very unfortunate reputation for talking rubbish sometimes. Even saying what you want to hear, in order to get you of the phone as fast as possible, so they can meet their 'amount of calls answered within (however long)' target....🙁

sml192 · ‎18-01-2025

@saamd4 wrote:

As for the Ireland comment, is this on live chat or just over the phone? Are the Ireland CS representatives known to be better? Thanks!

The team in Ireland are directly employed by eBay instead of by a 3rd party and, therefore, have more experience and greater authority.

When you do speak to them it will usually help if you are able to quote from eBay's actual Feedback Policy:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policy?id=4208&st=3&pos=1&query=Feed...

Item delivery issues

We remove neutral/negative feedback when the buyer is referencing:

A delivery issue where tracking shows us that the delivery or handling time expectations were met
A delivery issue where a natural disaster or unexpected event caused a carrier delay